"Mike, we'd certainly love to work with Barry, but his new script really lacks commercial appeal. Furthermore, we can't possibly accept a $25 million budget".
"I understand your thoughts, Sid. Paramount must also be hoping to get one or two projects from Daenerys Entertainment's ten films. But since you used unscrupulous means to snatch 'The Rocketeer' and 'Fire Birds' from Simon Westeros, do you think he'd still consider working with you?"
"Mike, it's precisely because we're well aware of our situation that you and I are meeting today. I guess other studios probably aren't willing to discuss this project with you anymore, are they?"
"…"
Hollywood, Paramount Studios.
Paramount Pictures President Sidney Ganis and Michael Ovitz were discussing Barry Levinson's new script, 'Avalon'. Avalon, the 'land of bliss' in European mythology, tells the story of the Krichinsky family, Eastern European immigrants, and their struggles across generations after immigrating to America at the turn of the century.
Although Dustin Hoffman received his second Oscar for 'Rain Man', saving some face, Barry Levinson and the other main creators were quite embarrassed.
Barry Levinson had been focused on writing his new script, 'Avalon', in the first half of the year, hoping to redeem himself with this project. In early July, Levinson finally completed the "Avalon" script, and several Hollywood studios expressed interest, leading to initial contacts.
However, things took a sharp turn for the worse when Daenerys Entertainment suddenly announced its plan for ten co-production films.
Disney, Columbia, and Warner Bros., who were originally interested in 'Avalon', firmly rejected it, leaving only Paramount, who hadn't completely closed the door.
These days, Michael Ovitz had more than once secretly regretted not stopping Barry Levinson and others from trying to shirk responsibility. Now, the entire CAA was on Daenerys Entertainment's blacklist.
After a moment of silence, Michael Ovitz said, "Sid, let's be frank. What are Paramount's conditions?"
"Barry's new script seems intended for Oscar contention, with limited box office potential. Therefore, Paramount can only offer a maximum budget of $12 million, of which $2 million is Barry's salary. Of course, we can also add a 10% net profit sharing clause".
Michael Ovitz was a little angry: "Sid, $2 million? Do you think that's possible?"
After debuting in the 1970s, Barry Levinson quickly rose to become a top-tier screenwriter, then transitioned to directing. Even without considering 'Rain Man', successful films like 'Good Morning, Vietnam' were enough to place him among the top directors with a starting salary of $5 million.
Moreover, no one could completely deny Barry Levinson's contributions to 'Rain Man'.
Now, after two consecutive hits, 'Good Morning, Vietnam' and 'Rain Man', Paramount was only willing to offer $2 million for Barry Levinson's self-written and directed new film, which was simply an insult.
Sidney Ganis ignored Michael Ovitz's sarcastic questioning, looked at his watch, and said, "I have another meeting soon, Mike. You can go back and think about it, then call me once you've decided".
Leaving Paramount Studios in a sombre mood, Michael Ovitz spent the entire journey considering how to discuss this matter with his client.
Paramount was clearly taking advantage of the situation, but Barry Levinson didn't have many options.
Maybe…
Temporarily have Barry set aside this project and shoot a more commercially viable film.
This thought was immediately dismissed by Ovitz.
Matthew Broderick, who had a previous entanglement with Simon Westeros, was now completely ruined. And although Daenerys Entertainment hadn't publicly said anything, there were currently very few film companies in Hollywood daring to risk working with Barry Levinson.
In fact, even within CAA, many stars were now deliberately avoiding Barry Levinson and the others.
Returning to CAA headquarters in Century City, as soon as he sat down at his desk, Richard Lovett, one of the company's agents, came to report that Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn were planning to leave CAA.
Michael Ovitz couldn't help but frown.
This was another, more serious problem facing CAA.
Jonathan Friedman was tasked with reclaiming lost clients. Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn were both A-list stars that CAA had poached three years ago when former WMA president Stan Kamen passed away. This was clearly WMA's retaliation.
Picking up the phone on his desk, Michael Ovitz made a few calls and quickly reached Kurt Russell. However, his invitation for dinner was directly rejected. Although Kurt Russell was very polite in his words, he stated that all subsequent matters would be handled by the couple's lawyer.
This matter clearly had no room for manoeuvre.
Moreover, the Russells were not the first wave of stars to leave recently. Michael Ovitz was well aware that not only WMA, but other talent agencies in Hollywood were also actively poaching from CAA.
Michael Ovitz once ambitiously wanted to poach the 'essence' of all other talent agencies in Hollywood, relying on CAA's unique packaging mechanism to secure increasingly generous compensation for stars, and this had been going very smoothly.
However, after Simon Westeros appeared, Michael Ovitz found that everything had gone wrong for him in the past two years. Many clients he had wanted to bring under CAA's wing, such as Robert De Niro, Kevin Costner, and Brian De Palma, had all failed to materialize.
Now, as Daenerys Entertainment's influence grew, CAA was even starting to lose its own talent.
CAA's packaging strategy was not outdated; in fact, it was becoming increasingly more popular. However, Ovitz also understood why this situation was happening.
Ultimately, it came down to the issue of resource competition in Hollywood.
Previously, due to the successful launch of a large number of highly successful packaged projects like 'Tootsie' and 'Out of Africa', CAA was unstoppable in Hollywood. Not only did it successfully attract a large number of A-list stars, but projects involving CAA also received preferential treatment from studios in terms of release dates, screens, and various other resources.
However, the rise of Daenerys Entertainment quickly stripped CAA of these advantages.
Many non-CAA clients, whose star power significantly increased due to Daenerys Entertainment's series of hit films, attracted more attention from Hollywood studios. With the popularity of more successful films as a foundation, stars like Robert De Niro, Kevin Costner, and Sandra Bullock could also demand better resources from studios.
In comparison, with its artists' commercial performance clearly inferior to Daenerys Entertainment's films, CAA gradually fell into a disadvantage in this regard.
Now, Daenerys Entertainment's plan for ten films, if it completely excluded CAA stars, would undoubtedly widen this gap even further. After all, these ten films would certainly monopolize the best release slots, the most generous publicity, and the largest number of screens for the next two years.
At the same time, no one would doubt that another batch of stars would see their status significantly elevated.
With this ebb and flow, some of CAA's A-list stars might be pushed into the B-list within a year or two.
Michael Ovitz couldn't help but recall the recent Sony acquisition of Columbia. As the matchmaker for this merger, Sony had previously expressed intentions of appointing him as the head of Sony Pictures Entertainment. Now, with the merger largely finalized, Sony no longer mentioned it.
Talent agencies, lacking any fixed assets, are inherently difficult to scale up.
Seeing Simon Westeros, Michael Eisner, Barry Diller, and others thrive in the production industry, gaining both fame and fortune, Ovitz naturally harboured similar ambitions.
The outcome, however, was still because of Simon Westeros.
After much deliberation and thought, Michael Ovitz picked up the phone again and dialled a number from memory without consulting the directory.
The call connected, but Westeros wasn't at the company.
Michael Ovitz chatted for a few moments with the person on the other end, who only said they would relay the message but had no intention of transferring the call.
Putting down the receiver, Ovitz was considering how to handle the matter when the fax machine in his office rang.
He pulled a sheet of paper from the fax machine, on which were only four names: Barry Levinson, Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise, Meg Ryan.
In the bottom right corner of the page was a handwritten 'W' symbol.
W, Westeros.
After a slight pause, Ovitz immediately understood that Simon Westeros meant that CAA must sever ties with these four individuals for their entanglement to be resolved.
Simon Westeros had clearly completely ignored Matthew Broderick, who had previously transferred to CAA and was now completely ruined.
Severing ties would certainly mean terminating contracts with these four individuals.
It's just that.
Could CAA do that?
Not to mention that these four are all top-tier Hollywood stars, if CAA were to terminate contracts with these four for self-preservation, how would other CAA clients view it?
However, after a brief moment of anger, Ovitz suddenly realized that perhaps other clients of the company wouldn't mind him doing this, and might even be hoping he would.
After all, if Barry Levinson and the other three left CAA, other large talent agencies would clearly not easily take them on, and smaller agencies would probably be even more afraid to provoke Daenerys Entertainment. They would have to go it alone.
It's not as if there aren't stars in Hollywood who go it alone.
Jack Nicholson has been independent of the major talent agencies for years and still thrives. Robert De Niro was also independent before joining WMA.
However, if these four individuals, already suppressed by Daenerys Entertainment, were to go it alone, losing the resource and network support of a large talent agency like CAA, and with Hollywood studios hesitant to collaborate with them, their future could only be described as uncertain.
People are inherently selfish.
The fall from grace of these four A-list filmmakers actually meant opportunities for others.
Moreover, Michael Ovitz also had to admit that this was undoubtedly the most advantageous way for CAA to handle the situation.
However, Ovitz found it difficult to convince himself to yield to Simon Westeros.
While he was in a terrible mood, his assistant outside knocked on the door. Ovitz looked up and saw one of CAA's screenwriter clients appear at the doorway.
This was Joe Eszterhas, who, due to the success of films like 'Flashdance' and 'Jagged Edge', was currently one of CAA's highest-valued screenwriters, with his previous scripts fetching up to $1.25 million.
Remembering that this was a scheduled meeting for the afternoon, Ovitz temporarily suppressed his recent indignation, smiled, stood up, and went to shake Eszterhas's hand, saying, "Joe, come in and have a seat".
Joe Eszterhas's expression was somewhat unnatural. He sat down with Ovitz in the reception area. After a few casual remarks and taking a sip of the coffee his secretary had just brought in, Eszterhas said, "Mike, it's like this: my former agent, Guy McElwaine, do you remember him?"
Ovitz nodded and said, "Didn't he go to Columbia to become a producer? It's been a long time since I've seen him".
"As you know", Eszterhas continued, "Sony is about to acquire Columbia, and Guy found that he wasn't really suited to being a producer. He wants to return to the agency business".
Ovitz recalled Guy McElwaine's information and readily nodded, saying, "Guy is quite capable in that area. In that case, he can just come back. We'll find time to talk."
"No, that's not it", Eszterhas shook his head, looking even more embarrassed, and said, "Guy has already decided to go to ICM. This time, actually, you know, Guy and I have a very good relationship, and I want him to continue being my agent".
Ovitz's expression hardened: "Joe, you want to leave CAA?"
Joe Eszterhas nodded and said, "Yes, Mike, I hope you can understand".
The string of events today had already pushed Michael Ovitz's mood to its breaking point. Hearing that a client CAA had tirelessly supported for years wanted to leave, his terrible mood immediately crossed a threshold. He shook his head without hesitation and said coldly, "Joe, I won't let you leave".
Joe Eszterhas didn't expect Ovitz's tone to be so harsh and resolute. He was stunned for a moment and said, "Mike, I can pay the penalty for breach of contract".
"No", Ovitz shook his head again and said, "Joe, you are CAA's most valuable asset. I will not agree to you leaving".
Joe Eszterhas said discontentedly, "I am not CAA's asset; I am a person".
"Alright, you are a person. Regardless, you cannot leave. At least, you won't take a single step out of CAA until your contract ends".
"Mike, I just heard that Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn have already left. Why are you making things difficult for me?"
"Why, Joe? Do you know how many resources CAA has invested in you over the years? Do you know how much effort I've put into you? In short, you want to terminate your contract early? That's impossible".
Feeling Ovitz's unreasonable and resolute tone, Joe Eszterhas also became angry.
Their voices grew louder and louder, quickly turning into an argument, and Ovitz's roars even echoed in the hallway.
"...Don't you forget, it was CAA that gave you a value of $1.25 million... Without CAA, you're nothing... Don't even think about it, I'll bombard you with lawsuits, tie you up so you can't get near a typewriter, and completely ruin you... If I tell you to eat shit, you'll eat shit... See those people outside? If you try to escape, CAA's infantrymen will track you down anywhere and smash your head in... I don't care what the outside world thinks, those guys just want to write screenplays for Robert Redford anyway..."
Their argument grew more and more heated until several of Ovitz's assistants, sensing trouble, rushed into the office and timely prevented a physical altercation.
However, the matter did not end there.
The next day, Joe Eszterhas published the details of this meeting in The Hollywood Reporter in the form of an open letter, accusing Ovitz of tyrannical behaviour and making personal threats against him.
Michael Ovitz's image in Hollywood had always been one of low-key mystery and omnipotence. Both Hollywood studio executives and A-list stars had held Ovitz in considerable awe in recent years. As soon as Joe Eszterhas's open letter was published, there was an uproar both within Hollywood and among external media.
Michael Ovitz's carefully cultivated personal image crumbled overnight, and under Daenerys Entertainment's intentional or unintentional pressure, CAA's situation became even more precarious.